Employer says Latif worked hard,prayed 5 times…

Mohammed Yunus,at whose shop Abdul Latif alias Guddu worked,says he was a hard worker and a devout Muslim who never missed a prayer.

Mohammed Yunus,at whose shop Abdul Latif alias Guddu worked,says he was a hard worker and a devout Muslim who never missed a prayer. He had been working with me for two years and I remember he was very particular about performing namaaz five times a day. Apart from that,there was nothing memorable about him but he was a good worker.

Yunus,who has a shop at Lohar chawl in South Mumbai selling plastic television covers and table cloth,paid Guddu a daily wage of Rs 200. Guddu had worked with other shops in the area and people knew him to be hard-working. Around two years ago,he had come to me asking for a job through a reference and I employed him. I still cannot believe he is what the police are accusing him of being. Everyone in the area is stunned. The general opinion is that Latif has been framed, he said.

The last time Yunus saw Latif was on Friday night when he had left after work. Around 8 pm,he had left for home after collecting the days wages. On Saturday,when he did not turn up,I tried to call him on his mobile but did not get a response. Later in the day,one of his relatives came to see me as he thought Latif was working with me.

When I told him Latif had not come that day,he said even the family did not know about his whereabouts. It was much later that I heard about his arrest, he said.

Latifs family has alleged Yunus had encouraged Latif to go to Pakistan. Yunus countered,Why would I tell him to go to Pakistan? I have a stall in Mumbai and have no interest in migrating abroad myself. All I know is that he had applied for a passport around a couple of months ago and told me about it. I did not ask him the reason as we were not so close as to ask each other personal questions.

Yunus is now worried about the ATS questioning him. The police have not come to question me so far but they might do that. I have done nothing wrong but nowadays,one cannot be too sure about what trouble a person might come to, he said.

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